I've Created a Magic App
Hey everyone, I'm riicks, and I'm a beginner in card magic (I've been at it for about a year).
Since I've learned a lot of sleights, sometimes I wish I had them all well-organized in one place where I could quickly access them. And since I also know a bit about programming, I came up with the idea of making an app. This app has the following sections: My Tricks (where you jot down the effects you know, classify them by difficulty and how much practice you've put in, and add your patter), Sleights (where you list the sleights you know and the ones you want to learn), a section for different types of decks, a logbook to record your practice sessions and performances, an 'Ideas' section where you can store ideas, patter, and routines. Another section is dedicated to organizing your patter and routines for stage performances (where you can note the duration, what you'll be doing, and the date), and finally, a section that helps you create and practice a Stebbins stack.
The app doesn't ask for personal data, doesn't require internet access, and has no ads. It's designed so that if you switch devices, you can create a file with all the info you had saved on your previous device, open that file in the new app, and have all your stuff.
(It's worth mentioning that the app doesn't reveal any magic secrets whatsoever; it just helps you organize the sleights you know and the tricks and effects you want to learn…)
Right now, it has a few minor bugs that don't affect the app's core functionality, but they do impact the user experience and overall convenience. Also, for now, I'm the only one who has it on my phone.
The plan is to eventually upload it to the Play Store so other magicians can have an easy and fast way to organize all their repertoire and knowledge on their phones. I still need to make some improvements to the app, and that's where I thought maybe this community of magicians could give me some advice on what features to add, which ones might not make much sense, or just tell me what you think about the app.
Sorry for the super long post, everyone.
Huge thanks to all of you!!
6
Join the conversation
Sort:
Hey Riicks! I was just thinking about an app with this kind of feature, and your idea sounds fantastic. The only thing I don't quite get is how you'd identify a specific trick, since it's often hard to boil it down to just one word or term. Anyway, when you have a beta version or anything similar ready to share, count me in! I'd be happy to test it for you.
All the best and keep up the great work!!!
Hey deloby, hope you're doing great!
Thanks so much for your feedback on this project, and I'm thrilled you think it's a great idea.
You're absolutely right, sometimes it's tough to summarize a trick in just a word or two. In the input field, as far as I recall, there isn't a character limit, so you could just put down whatever helps you remember it. Either way, when the app asks you for the effect details, there's a section for the description or the patter where you can outline how you'll present it, and that should help you recall which one it is.
For now, I still need to fix some bugs and tweak a few things, so a huge thank you for your feedback and your interest! Take care!
That sounds like a great idea! As a beginner myself (even more of a novice than you), I often forget things like self-working tricks that I don't practice regularly. Even though I think I have a good memory, I just don't organize my practice for everything, and with self-working tricks especially, I tend to forget certain aspects when I'm about to perform them. The only thing I have is a YouTube playlist where I save tricks and techniques, so this app would be super helpful. If you release it somewhere before it goes live on the Play Store, please give me a heads-up so I can download it right away. It'd solve a lot of my issues.
Thanks and good luck!
I get it, I run into that with some effects too. Once I have it ready, I can send it your way and you can let me know what you think if you want. Thanks!
That sounds like a fantastic idea; I was thinking of doing something similar. If you need a QA tester to help with the app, either before or after it's published, count me in.
Thanks for your input, and thanks for offering to help. For now, I'm going to keep at it on my own, but if I find myself needing a hand, I'll definitely let you know. Thanks!